The present invention relates to a subcaliber kinetic energy projectile including a penetrator and a segmented sabot of the type provided with a forward support and a further support disposed at an axial distance behind the front support, with the further support including a rotationally symmetrical air pocket facing the forward support which is provided with air passages.
A kinetic energy projectile of the above type is disclosed, for example in Germin laid open patent application No. DE-OS 3,324,749 which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,927. This projectile is provided with a sabot that has a first front support and a second support arranged at an axial distance behind the first support. The second support includes an air pocket facing the first support which causes the sabot segments to be released from the penetrator by the inflowing air as soon as the kinetic energy projectile has left the gun tube.
The first support is composed of individual radially extending webs or flanges between which air flow openings are disposed and which preferably are provided with intended break locations so that the first support is able to break off. The dimensions of the webs are selected such that the webs serve primarily to support the kinetic energy projectile against the gun tube and do not perform the function of an air pocket to open the sabot because there exists the danger that pressure fluctuations become noticeable in such a forward air pocket and thus cause the projectile to perform pendulum movements. Such pressure fluctuations occur primarily in projectile configurations in which the length L of the penetrator tip disposed ahead of the first rotationally symmetrical air pocket (the exposed penetrator tip) is relatively short, that is wherein L/D.apprxeq.1 (where D=the caliber of the gun tube).
Moreover, in the above mentioned prior art kinetic energy projectiles the distance x between the trailing edge of the sabot and the base surface of the air pocket in the second support (pressure flange) should be relatively short so that the following generally applies: x&lt;0.45 * .iota., where .iota. is the length of the sabot which supports the penetrator, i.e., the length of the sabot in contact with the surface of the penetrator. However, this means that the sabot is unable to roll off over its trailing edge (the term "roll off" is understood to mean the opening of the sabot segments at the front while maintaining contact with the penetrator at the rear of the sabot). Rather, the resulting air attack force here acts in the immediate vicinity of the center of gravity of the sabot so that the sabot segments are released in parallel. This is undesirable, particularly for performance enhanced kinetic energy projectiles whose sabots have a long gas pressure charging surface at the rear.
It is an object of the present invention to further develop a subcaliber kinetic energy projectile of the above-mentioned type in such a way that, on the one hand, it is ensured that the sabot is able to roll off over its trailing edge in a reproducible manner and, on the other hand, the mass of the sabot in the front region is reduced. In addition, pendulum movements of the projectile caused by pressure fluctuations in the forward air pocket are to be avoided.